Distinguishing between Benjamins “senior” and “junior” in Abbeville, S.C.

It’s important to clarify the father-son relationship between our Benjamin (II) and Benjamin (III). Census and other official records listing them as “senior” and “junior” help with the distinction.

Benjamin (II) is first called “senior” in a will dated 28 Feb 1784, in Charles Co., MD, according to CC Wills, 1780-1791.278, sourced in “Early Families of Southern Maryland,” Volume 9, Elise Greenup Jourdan, Heritage Books, 2007, p. 202. Benjamin (II) is listed on the 1790 Charles County, MD, federal census, but without the “senior” title because his son was only 14 and not old enough to be listed separately. Benjamin (II) sold his plantations – Posey’s Chance and Hornfair – in Charles County and moved to Abbeville County, SC, in 1790. Benjamin (II) also is listed on the 1790 Federal Census in Abbeville, SC (p. 468), which was administered later in the year.

Both Benjamin (II) and Benjamin (III) are listed in the 1800 Federal Census of Abbeville, SC, on pages 19 and 22, respectively. Benjamin (III) was 24 and running his own farm by then. Their names still did not include their “senior” or “junior” titles. They’re distinguishable by their ages and the ages of their family members on the census.

Benjamin (III) is first officially listed as “junior” in his brother Thomas Maddox’s inventory, taken on 7 February 1805 in Abbeville County, SC (Abbeville County CC Box 12, Pack 1459).

Benjamin (III) sold 100 acres to Cornelius Cook on 5 September 1808, but he is not listed as “junior.”

Benjamin (II) is listed as “senior” on the 1810 Federal Census of Abbeville County, SC, on roll 60, page 57. Benjamin (III) is listed without his “junior” title on the same census, on roll 61, page 325. Their ages and the ages of their family members on the census again confirm the distinction.

Benjamin (III) is listed one last time as “junior” on the estate sale record for his deceased brother or uncle John Maddox on 9 November 1810 in Abbeville, SC (Book 3, page 92). Benjamin (II) is listed without his “senior” title in his January 1811 sale of 165 acres in Abbeville, SC, to Patrick Sperrin. His wife Elizabeth released her dower rights. Benjamin (II) died shortly after his 1811 sale of the 165 acres.

One unrelated family historian has argued that Benjamin (III) is identifiable with a Benjamin who was the father of Chandler and Lawson Maddox (who are later orphaned in Georgia), and who lived in Laurens County, SC in ca. 1790-1810. They also argue that Benjamin (father of Lawson and Chandler) moved to Georgia, and later to Alabama, with many other Maddoxes. This historian’s argument has proliferated on the Internet. However, the genealogist Joyce Smelley Odom has demonstrated that Chandler and Lawson were actually Benjamin (III)’s nephews. The Benjamin who moved to Georgia also was Benjamin (III)’s nephew – the son of William Maddox (1776 MD – 1867 AL).